Melbourne Cup results: Miracle child. Miracle ride. Miracle result: Robbie Dolan and Knight’s Choice win the Melbourne Cup
Robbie Dolan’s daughter, Maisie, was at long odds to live. Born 15 weeks premature and needing 110 days in intensive care. On Tuesday she was at Flemington to see her dad storm home in The Great Race on an $81 outsider.
Robbie Dolan’s daughter, Maisie, was at long odds to live. Born 15 weeks premature and needing 110 days in intensive care. Fast forward a couple of years and the miracle child was blossoming like the pink, yellow and red roses illuminating Flemington while witnessing a miracle ride from her old man to win the Melbourne Cup.
Knight’s Choice was nobody’s pick. Folks who drew the 80/1 roughie in the office sweep gave the annual lament about always getting the duds. And then! This slightly built, Sunshine Coast-based, unfashionable, unfancied, little-Aussie-battler of a horse won a soul-stirring 164th edition of the The Great Race with the hide and cheekiness of a Queensland State of Origin halfback. Maisie’s alive and kicking … and so’s the Cup.
This was a beauty, save for the burning of punters tickets. Only Allan Langer might have ducked, weaved, jinked and sidestepped with greater aplomb. Bravo to the horse, of course, and compliments to the training duo of John Symons and Sheila Laxon for making every tipster in the land look a right dill, but the real trumpet-blasting salute must go to Ireland’s Brisbane-based hoop. This was one of the great Cup rides.
And they’re off. Dolan and Knight’s Choice bump into Kerrin McEvoy and Absurde, bouncing toward the rail and drifting to the rear of the pack. Find a bum? All they see are bums. Dolan has soft hands and patience. He rides Knight’s Choice “for a look”. They stay in a rumbling if distant rhythm until swinging left to the home straight. They’re fifth-last at the 400m … and then! they take off like a rocket.
We don’t see them coming. Bigger names are everywhere, attention is elsewhere. At the clock tower, the 150m, Dolan’s yellow helmet is spearing through the pack like a bolt of lightning. He spies a gap between McEvoy and Absurde – hello, again – and Zac Purton and Land Legend. He burns off Andrea Atzeni and Zardozi. See ya! Motors past Jamie Kah and Okita Soushi. Wouldn’t want to be ya! It’s a photo finish between Knight’s Choice and Japan’s Warp Speed. They’ve finished closer than Lionel Rose and Fighting Harada. The verdict goes to Dolan.
“Pinch me,” he says. “What the hell?”
Fair question. Pre-race favourite Buckaroo finished ninth. What the hell? Vauban was 11th. What the hell? Onesmoothoperator was 12th. What the hell? The trifecta paid $22,576 and the first four was worth $728,015. What the hell! And Robbie Dolan, journeyman Robbie Dolan, who had never even contested the Cup before, had just won it.
“I feel like I’m going to wake up any minute,” he said.
“Jesus Christ. Wow. I’ve never even ridden in a Melbourne Cup before so I didn’t know what to expect. But I feel like I’ve run the race ten times because I’ve played it over in my head before I got here. It panned out exactly as I thought it would. I just decided to ride him for a look because I know he’s got a good turn of foot.
“I don’t even know what to say. I can’t believe it. I’ve got my dad here from Ireland, it’s just mental. I woke up Sunday morning and went down to the kitchen and he was standing there. I couldn’t believe it.
“Win, lose or draw, it was going to be a great day to have him here – with my little daughter there, Maisie, and my partner Christine. This is the biggest race in the world and to win it is just incredible. I’m going to cry again. It’s just unbelievable and I don’t know what to say anymore.”
Heard the one about the Irish jockey who won the Melbourne Cup at 80/1?
Dolan was at longer odds to succeed as a jockey when he moved from Ireland to Australia a decade ago. He’s been a bit of a journeyman until now. This was only his third Group 1 triumph. He’s literally sung for his supper on a couple of occasions, making the red chairs spin on The Voice television show and belting out Daryl Braithwaite’s The Horses as pre-race entertainment before the 2022 Cox Plate.
What the hell? It’s what we want from the Cup. Unpredictability. A local horse sticking it to the world. A chatterbox, unlikely jockey. Extreme emotion. The international raiders being pointed to the airport and told to try again next year. Thanks for coming.
Asked to describe the barnstorming finish, Dolan replied: “Once my horse spotted the gap, he sort of changed lanes and just picked up under me. Once I pulled the stick through, he found another gear again. He’s only a small little horse but he gives his all every start. That’s half the battle and he’s proved a lot of people wrong. If he never wins another race again for the rest of his life, it doesn’t matter.”
Elite jockey James McDonald told Dolan: “Not only have you won the Melbourne Cup, you’ve done it with one of the best rides I’ve ever seen.” The princess-like Michelle Payne added: “Just remarkable. You didn’t miss a beat. Everything was perfectly smooth. You don’t win a Melbourne Cup by fluke. You never made any contact with another runner. You just flowed beautifully … congratulations on a superb ride.”
The 28-year-old Dolan was a self-described lost soul in County Kildare before packing one suitcase and trying his luck in Australia. He had zero contacts but a willingness to do trackwork for anyone who would have him.
“Back in Ireland I was a bit lost and didn’t know what to do,” Dolan said. “I wasn’t getting on a roll and to be honest, I wasn’t good enough to get going. I wanted to be a jockey but I had no confidence, no money. I came to this country with nothing. In my heart I always believed I could do it. I just needed the right kick and the right opportunities.”
The odds weren’t favourable for Dolan’s daughter. There she was at Flemington. How good’s an underdog? Nor did the odds promote optimism for Knight’s Choice and his hoop.
Winners were grinners. Miracle child, miracle ride, miracle result, everything came up pink, yellow and red roses. At the end of the presentation ceremony, Dolan had a word for those who underestimated him. “A lot of people doubted this little horse, as well,” he said of himself. “You know what I mean? Doubt me now.”
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